INTENSE PHOTONICS WINS $630K SPURPLUS GRANT TO DEVELOP PIONEERING OPTICAL SWITCH
Glasgow, Scotland. Intense Photonics has been awarded a £450,000 (US$630,000) SpurPlus grant to develop an optoelectronic packet switch - a key component of future all-optical communications networks.
The device is expected to set a new standard in optical component technology, by integrating all of the components required for the dynamic routing of information packets on one monolithic chip. This will provide state-of-the-art switching speed - providing the foundation for new generation of optical network peripherals that can deliver extremely high bandwidth as and when organisations require it, and provide a powerful tool to help operators manage networks.
SpurPlus is a grant scheme run by the Scottish Executive to help small and medium-sized businesses develop world-beating products and processes for markets which demand particularly expensive leading-edge technology.
The project will use Intense Photonics unique quantum well intermixing (QWI) technology, which has a proven capability to integrate optical functions. The challenge in this instance is to integrate a very large number of elements. These include passive sections such as long interconnecting waveguide sections for signal routing, and signal splitters and recombiners to multiplex and de-multiplex signals on chip. Active elements needed include lasers, amplifiers, modulators and signal detectors. The resulting component is likely to be one of the most highly integrated optical components ever made - demonstrating the potential that monolithic integration technology offers for realising quantum leap advances in optical communications bandwidth.
"This is an ambitious project", says Jim Ashe, VP Sales and Marketing of Intense Photonics, "which will enable the world s telecommunications equipment makers to start building all-optical communication systems for mass markets".
The project starts immediately. It is expected to last around 18 months.
Details of SpurPlus may be found at www.scotland.gov.uk/who/elld/rnd_SPUR_1.asp . Information on Intense Photonics quantum well intermixing technology may be found at www.intensephotonics.com/about.htm?tech.htm.
Intense Photonics Ltd, Kelvin Campus, West of Scotland Science Park, Glasgow G20 0SP Scotland
Tel: +44 (0)141 589 7000; Fax: +44 (0)141 589 7039; enquiries@intensephotonics.com
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